


Cool Beans

by abomination



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Catfish AU, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith is a photographer, M/M, idk what to call it, keith is a catfishing barista, kind of slow burn, lance interns for a magazine, lance is the victim and also a coffee addict, non binary pidge, slight Shallura
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-10-31 14:46:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10901538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abomination/pseuds/abomination
Summary: Lance gets stood up by his Valentine’s Day date. Or at least he thinks he does. In reality, he was catfished by Keith, the local barista and friend-of-a-friend who heloathes.OrAn AU in which Lance is a coffee addict, Keith is a catfish and theyeventuallywork it out.(updatedfinaldraft bc ao3 hates me and posted the rough draft instead | title changed from "beans" to "cool beans")





	1. Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> Reupload bc ao3 apparently posted the rough draft!! I swear the website hates me. Either way, this is my first fic in like a year and my first voltron fic so pls be gentle with me.

“C’mon, Lance, you can do this. You’re great. Don’t let Pidge get to you—she’s bitter.” Lance said as he buried his head in his dark scarf. The walk to the café was short as it was right down the street from his apartment, but it felt like a lifetime. He kept lifting the sleeve to his ebony coat and checking his watch for the time. He could feel himself shaking and if it wasn’t for the weather his face would have been as hot as a fresh pot of coffee (and _man_ , was he really craving coffee). He ignored the odd look he received from the woman passing by him as he swore under his breath in Spanish.

Eventually, he reached the café. His breath was heavy and strained by the cold. He pulled out his phone and stared down at the screen. His eyes then scanned the café which was full of couples sitting across from each other with their lattes. Lance rolled his eyes at the countless latte art of little hearts. There were a few people sitting by themselves, but no one resembled the photo. He could have sworn that his date had said he had already arrived. Lance double checked the last message that he was sent. He wasn’t wrong, so that meant he was right _and_ confused. Before approaching the counter, he shot them a quick message asking where they were. He tried to mask his pending disappointment quickly as he walked up to the counter.

“Oh, hey, Lance.”

Lance scowled at the figure that came from the back. It was Keith who was dressed in a maroon turtleneck and black jeans with an apron that read, “Welcome to Cool Beans.” He had the usual smug look on his face that Lance really wanted to wipe off.  

“Ugh, I was hoping you were off today. Where’s Allura? I miss her beautiful face.” He looked behind Keith as if she would magically appear.

Keith rolled his eyes at Lance’s comment. “On a date with Shiro—you know, _her boyfriend_. She’s has a love life unlike _someone_.”

Now it was Lance’s turn to wear a smug look. “Actually, I do.” He said despite the fact that he wasn’t receiving any replies from his date and panic was slowly building in the back of his throat. “I’m waiting for them.”

Keith cocked up an eyebrow with an expression Lance couldn’t particularly place. “Really,” he said slowly.

Lance glanced down at his shoes. “Well…sorta, we’re friends, but I’m working on it—wait, why are we even having this conversation? Just get me my usual.”

“Lance, I don’t _know_ your usual.”

He sighed. “Fine, can I get a medium dark roast french vanilla coffee with almond milk, extra shot, extra-hot, and sugar-free.”

“I swear I don’t get paid enough for this.” Keith let out a sigh. “That will be $5.20.” He made no attempt to hide his annoyed expression as he looked at Lance.

Lance counted and handed over the amount. “This is why you never get tips, Keith,” he said as he gestured over to the empty jar labeled “tips.”

“No,” Keith said as he walked over to the coffee machines and Lance followed. “It’s because of capitalism.”

Lance snorted as he crossed his arms and waited for his drink to be made. “Sure.”

He tried to hide his growing anxiety. He kept nervously searching the café for a familiar face, but saw nothing new. He fiddled with the hem of his scarf as he took it off and resigned to watch Keith as he made his drink to distract himself.

Despite the obvious hatred for his job, Keith always looked so focused when he made drinks. He carefully measured everything and memorized even the most complicated orders. Lance noticed that the quality of the coffee had become noticeably higher when Keith started a few months ago—not that Lance would never say that aloud.      

“Earth to Lance.” Keith’s voice snapped Lance out of his thoughts. He was waiting for Lance with impatient eyes to take his drink.

“It was about time,” he mumbled as he took the drink from Keith who rolled his eyes for the second time today. He took a sip of it and hummed softly as the drink warmed his mouth. Lance made it a point to pull out a five-dollar bill and put it in the jar.

“Thanks,” Keith mumbled.

Lance waved him off as he walked away. “Mhm.”

He picked a seat by the window so he could watch people as they came in and out of the café. He occasionally scrolled through his Twitter feed while taking sips of his drink that was growing colder as time passed. Lance felt a pang of jealousy as the couples around him went about their dates. Perhaps he wouldn’t have been so annoyed if the situation was different, but it wasn’t and he had just spent sixty minutes sitting by a window expecting someone who wouldn’t even return his messages. His hands were damp with sweat and despite his thin black sweater, Lance could feel his body getting heated from the embarrassment he felt.

 

Keith felt horrible as he kept an eye on Lance behind the counter. He fiddled with the hem of his sweater when he wasn’t serving customers and he found himself making more mistakes with orders than usual (Keith was glad he managed to fix Lance’s drink correctly, or else the other man would have complained for God knows how long). He wanted to text Allura and ask her to come back, but he knew that would be selfish since he promised her he would be okay to work today. But, after watching Lance patiently wait for about an hour by the window, his stomach could barely take it anymore.

It was even worse when Lance stood up. There was noticeably less of a bounce in his step and he wore a dangerously calm expression. Keith straightened himself up and cleared his throat, but that wasn’t enough to soothe himself. _It’s okay, Keith._ He told himself. _It’s not like he knows it’s you. He doesn’t know that you’re the cause of his shitty Valentine’s Day._

Keith cocked his left eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest in an attempt to act natural. “I thought you had a date?”

“Uh, they canceled. They woke up late and were feeling sick, so…” Lance’s voice trailed off and left the two in an awkward silence. Lance shoved his hands into the pockets of jeans. He wouldn’t meet Keith’s gaze and instead opted to stare down at his shoes.       

“Man, that sucks.”

It was now Lance’s turn to cock an eyebrow up at Keith. “That’s it? No kicking me while I’m down?”

“I don’t get why you think I’m so evil.” He pushed himself off the counter and looked quizzically at Lance despite the feeling that he was lying through his teeth. His movements were stiff and unnatural. He rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. “Say, uh, how about as compensation for your shitty day I get you a drink on me?”

Lance blinked up at Keith with his brows knitted in confusion. “U-uh, sure.”

Their eyes met briefly and Keith walked to the coffee station to get working. Lance was about to speak, but Keith cut him off. “Medium dark roast french vanilla coffee with almond milk, extra shot, extra-hot, and sugar free, I know, I know.” He looked at Lance thinking he would find a smug expression, but instead the other man just rested against the pick-up counter with a thoughtful expression.

“I knew I shouldn’t have tried online dating. Pidge will never let me live this one down, but I just wanted to make friends, you know? With work it’s hard to meet new people.” He was more or less talking to himself. Keith tried to occupy his mind with the task of Lance’s complicated order.

It wasn’t long before he was placing his order on the counter. “Oh, and here’s our last double chocolate muffin.” Keith reached into the glass display and placed the pastry on a plate. Lance tilted his head. “What?” Keith responded while refusing to meet Lance’s eyes.

“Where’s Keith and what have you done with him?” He said half-jokingly.

“You make me _want_ to be mean to you, you know that?” The annoyance practically dripped from Keith’s words. If anything, it was just like any normal day with Lance.

“I think I would prefer that actually.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but there was less malice in his tone than usual. “Just take the food before I change my mind.” Lance’s attitude always made it difficult to sympathize with him.

“Fine,” Lance huffed, but there was a hint of playfulness in his eyes that Keith was relieved to see return. He took the food from the counter and was about to go back to his table when he looked over his shoulder with a small smile. “Thanks, I guess.”

Keith waited until Lance was out of site before he whipped out his phone from his pocket. He stood there typing and retyping his message over and over again in between taking orders. It earned him some dirty looks from the soccer moms that expect for them to be paid attention to from the moment they walked into the door, but Keith ignored it.

K: Hey, I had to leave suddenly, work came up. I’m sorry :/

L: It’s fine! There’s always next time. :)

K: Yeah, thanks for being understanding. My boss can be a pain in the ass sometimes

L: Same omg!

Keith tried to suppress his smile at the exchange. A pang of guilt stung his chest and for a moment he lost his breath. He shouldn’t want to continue talking to Lance because it would only end badly for them both. He shouldn’t care about keeping this up anyway because it was just a simple prank from the start, right? It wasn’t like he actually enjoyed talking to Lance when he wasn’t being a jerk. It’s not like seeing those messages filled him with equal amounts guilt and relief. At least that’s what he was trying to reassure himself.

Lance finished his second cup a lot faster than his first cup and approached the counter with his dishes. Keith narrowed his dark eyes. “You know you could just leave it at your table.”

Lance folded his arms across his chest. “Obviously I do, I’m just being _nice_.”

“Is that what you’re calling it now?” Keith smirked as he took the dishes and put them in the dish pile. He could here Lance huff from behind the counter.

“Shut up, mullet-head.” Lance sighed. Now, _that_ was the Lance Keith knew. “Anyway, thanks for the free food, though I hate the idea of being in debt to you.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Keith tried to occupy himself with cleaning the counter. He had to ignore the urge to tell him right then and there.

They stood there in an awkward silence until a customer came walking into the shop. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah,” His eyes followed Lance until he disappeared from the view of the shop’s windows.

Keith looked visibly relieved once Lance was out of sight. He dismissed his conscience yelling at him to do the right thing in favor of serving the next customer that walked through the door. He’d get to it eventually, right?


	2. Latte

“But, I don’t _want_ to go; its cold out.” Keith said as Allura practically pulled him out of the apartment door by his arm.

“You’re already wearing your coat.” Allura gestured with her free hand at the navy blue peacoat Keith was wearing. “And it’s not like you have anything else to do.”

Keith looked over at Shiro who was standing in the hallway with his arms crossed and an expression that read that it was probably his idea.

“I have work tomorrow at the studio and the coffee shop. I have plenty to do,” he huffed.

“Yeah, _tomorrow._ Today, you go ice-skating.” Allura said, almost triumphantly.

“I don’t even know how to ice-skate,” he admitted and ignored the semi-shocked expression that flickered on Allura’s face.

“There’s other things to do there. Plus, Lance and the others will be there!”

“That’s even worse.”

Keith had managed to avoid Lance for the past week. Just the thought of having to interact with him after the whole Valentine’s Day date fiasco was enough to make a small sense of panic rise from within him. Their conversations on the dating app had been mostly just daily small talk where Lance did most of the talking—about his day at work, his family, and things he liked which he didn’t mind at all. It had seemed to Keith that Lance had stopped all romantic advances, but he couldn’t understand why Lance kept talking to him. Or why he kept replying.

“C’mon, Keith, it’ll be fun.” Shiro finally chimed in and snapped him out of his thoughts.

He wore a small smile, but behind his eyes Keith could tell he was concerned.

Keith was out-numbered.

“ _Fine_ ,” his shoulders sagged and he tried to ignore the victorious expressions they wore.

 

* * *

 

 The ice skating rink was a part of the winter festival hosted by a nearby park. The festival consisted of a large ice skating rink in the center of a plethora of white tents containing food and winter-themed crafts for anyone bored enough to do them. Keith had seen it plenty of times during his morning jogs, but never really paid much attention to it. He was tempted to go and take photos, but the biting wind and ample amount of children was enough to keep him away. It’s not like the bald trees and dead plant life would provide him with anything to work with anyway. The most pleasant things about the entire festival however was the food—Keith was a sucker for fresh sugar cookies. He could smell them from the moment Shiro and Allura went up to get their skates from a booth.

Keith was about to leave his friends and make a beeline for the stand when a voice came from behind.

“Hey, guys!” Keith turned around to see Lance with Pidge and Hunk following from behind.

They were all bundled up in their winter clothes wearing excited smiles, but no one could top the one Lance wore—he looked like a child given free rein in a candy store. Keith considered using the sugar cookies as the reason for his escape, but just as he turned to leave while Lance was distracted talking to Allura and Shiro, he was stopped.

“Keith, why aren’t you getting ice skates?” Lance had stopped talking to them and turned to look at Keith and _God_ , did he want to die.

“Oh, Keith can’t ice skate, but he came along anyway.” Allura said.

Keith sighed as Lance’s eyes widened and a grin spread across his face.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, _wait._ You’re saying the Great Keith Kogane can’t do something?” The mischievous tone in his voice was enough to make Keith glare daggers at him.

“I never said I couldn’t ice skate.” Keith crossed his arms over his chest. “ _Now,_ if we’re done with this pointless conversation, I’m going to get sugar cookies.”

Lance wagged his finger. “Why aren’t you skating then?”

“I don’t like to ice skate.”

“Says someone who doesn’t know how to ice skate.”

“Lance, I can ice skate.”

“Prove it.”

“No, that’s just childish.” Keith turned on his heel and left in search of the sugar cookie stand all while leaving behind a sputtering Lance.

“Hey, I wasn’t done—“ Lance ran to catch up with Keith who was now in line for cookies.

Keith gave up. “I can’t ice skate, okay? Happy now?”

It was obvious that Keith couldn’t hide how annoyed he was—he was never good at that. He glared at Lance again with his gloved hands shoved into his pockets.

Lance was surprisingly quiet after Keith’s outburst. After a few moments, Lance spoke. “I could teach you.”

Keith furrowed his brow. “Come again?”

“Well, I still owe you for the whole Valentine’s Day thing and I’m pretty decent at it…” Lance looked away from Keith as he spoke, but Keith couldn’t ignore the fact that behind that confident smile of his was a hint of embarrassment. Keith felt the guilt rise and simmer in his gut.

“I don’t want to learn.” Keith said as he looked at the people practically falling over themselves as they ice skated in the rink. He did not want to join them.

Lance pouted and crossed his arms. Keith would never admit it aloud, but it was a damn _cute_ sight. “C’mon it’ll be fun. I promise I won’t laugh.”

“Fine.” Keith answered before he could really think about it.

Before he could protest, Lance grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back to the booth to get their skates. Allura and Shiro were already laced up and ready to go while Pidge and Hunk waited for Lance to return with Keith in tow.

“Are you guys done flirting now? I would like my skates sometime this year.” Pidge whined.

Hunk chuckled at their words.

“Shut up and be grateful I’m even paying for your skates.” Lance said as he let go of Keith’s arm. “Also, I wasn’t flirting.” Keith was too busy glaring at Pidge to see the blush on Lance’s cheeks.

“Suuuure.”

 

Keith wasn’t sure why he had said yes to Lance’s offer. In fact, he was still wondering why he would subject himself to such possible humiliation and torture at the hands of Lance when they were getting their skates from the booth. His mind was running on autopilot from his accidental all-nighters, but he wasn’t so out of it that he would agree to such a thing, right? Maybe it’s because Keith knew, well, _K_ knew that Lance was having a bad day today and thought that maybe he could be cheered up at _Keith’s_ expense. Or maybe he was just too tired to care.

The pair sat next to each other on the bench. Keith hadn’t seen a pair of ice skates in years, let alone put them on. He approached the task gingerly and tried to ignore the quick glance Lance stole of him to make sure he knew what he was doing. He had managed to get them both on, but the long laces had him at a loss. Lance must have taken notice as he stood from the bench only to squat down in front of Keith.

“You have to tie them tightly or else you could get injured.” Lance said with an unreadable expression as he grabbed the laces to his one skate and began to tie them.

“I can tie them myself Lance, there’s no need—”

“Ah, yes, the old ‘stare at them until they tie themselves method, works every time.” Lance joked as he finished tying the first skate and moved onto the second one.

Keith really wanted to wipe that shit eating grin off of his face, but opted to just respond with a roll of his eyes. Why did he agree to this again?

“And done.” Lance said as he stood.

Keith mumbled his thanks and attempted to stand on his own. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was nervous or because he felt like he was standing for the first time all over again, but he wobbled almost instantly. He felt hands on both sides of his arms to steady him. He could already hear Lance chuckling at his misfortune.

“I don’t want to skate anymore.” Keith muttered and wiggled out of Lance’s grasp.

Lance cleared his throat. “Sorry, sorry.” After about a moment of silence, he spoke again. “Just don’t think about the skates too much. If you do you’ll get too nervous and it won’t be fun.”

“Easier said than done.” He said as he took a few steps forward.

When he decided he was as comfortable as he was going to get with the skates, he followed Lance into the rink. The lack of control he felt caused him to immediately latch onto the metal sides of the rink. He looked back at the exit of the rink wistfully and considered whether he should high-tail it out of there.

“ _Tsk. Tsk. Tsk._ Clinging to the wall is a beginner’s mistake Keith.”

Keith’s eyes widened as he realized that Lance was skating backwards with his arms crossed. How could he be that good? Keith let go for a brief moment, but his feet didn’t want to move.

“Here, give me your hands.” Lance offered his gloved hands to Keith.

Keith looked from Lance’s hands to his face. He had to be joking, right? There was no way Keith looked so pitiful that even Lance took pity on him.

“I don’t need them,” Keith said as he pushed himself off the side of the rink.

He tried to mimic the pushing motions nearby skaters did with their feet and surprisingly—he was picking it up pretty fast. He wondered what Lance’s face must have looked like right now—

Keith suddenly felt himself trying to regain his balance. His arms flailed as he attempted to steady himself or at least reach the metal edge of the rink, but was too late as his face became well acquainted with the ice. The cold of the ice sent shudders through his body and he scrambled quickly to get back up. The stains left on his dark jeans weren’t visible, but Keith could definitely feel the beginning of the discomfort of wet jeans. His fingers felt borderline numb despite the gloves he wore and his face—he could only imagine how red it was.

“Ugh,” Keith groaned along with his joints. He could hear Lance’s distant laughter gaining on him from behind. If he ever wanted to die of embarrassment, it was definitely now.

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” Lance clucked his tongue as he finally managed to catch up to Keith. He had the largest grin on his face and Keith could see the small tear stains on the corner of Lance’s eyes.

“Fuck off,” Keith mumbled and glowered at the man next to him.

He ignored the stifled giggles of the rest of his friends who skated by, though Shiro and Allura did call out to see if he was okay. He nodded then urged himself to continue to skate forward all while ignoring Lance’s sputtering.

“C’mon, Keith. You have to admit it was pretty funny to see you flailing around like that.” Lance teased. He was skating next to Keith who had picked up a leisurely pace. His face was screwed up in concentration, but he made an effort to keep looking forward and ignore Lance. “You didn’t even let me teach you how to skate.”

“You’re a terrible teacher, Lance.”

“You won’t let me teach you.”

“I’m doing fine without you.” Keith didn’t see the frown that briefly flickered across Lance’s face. “How did you even learn how to ice skate like that in a place like Florida?” Keith asked and immediately regretted his question. He wasn’t sure if Lance had told him or _K_ that, but it didn’t matter now because he had just let Lance know that he knew. He looked taken aback for a moment, but it eventually dissipated.

“I took lessons at an indoor rink. It was something fun to do when I wasn’t swimming or arguing with my siblings.”

Keith nodded. “My dad took me ice skating when I was five or six—I don’t really remember that well—but, all I remember is that I gave up after I fell and got a nosebleed.” Keith had a nostalgic look in his eyes and a wore a small smile. He wasn’t sure what prompted him to tell Lance that story, but it felt nice to.

“That doesn’t sound anything like you now.”

Keith shrugged. “I was kind of a brat.”

“Still kind of are,” he remarked which earned him a glare from Keith.

“Do you _always_ ruin moments?”

“We were having a moment?” Lance joked and Keith huffed.

He wasn’t really mad because there was no bite to his words. Keith found himself stealing glances of Lance as they glided beside each other. He was feeling more at ease on the ice, so his speed had picked up significantly. He had some awkward encounters with small children falling in front of him, so Lance had offered to teach him how to brake.

Keith was more of a visual learner, but Lance didn’t know that so it wasn’t long before Lance was skating backwards again and holding both of Keith’s hands to make sure he didn’t fall. Keith could feel his heart rate speeding up and he chalked it up simply being nervous about the possibility of falling again. _Definitely not because he was holding hands with Lance, who was wearing a gentle smile that made Keith’s heart skip a beat. Nope. Definitely not._

“Okay, so remember what I said.” Lance said slowly.

Keith nodded. “I know, push the flat part, one foot out, pressure then bend,” he repeated the gist of it back to Lance.

“Good.”

He wasn’t so confident that he would get it the first time, but with the way his eyes were set with determination, anyone else would think so. Keith braced himself and tried to envision Lance’s feet when he saw him do it earlier. Once he started to glide to a stop he could _feel_ that something was wrong. He was right, but he felt better since Lance was there to stop him from falling face first on the ice again.

Instead, he felt backwards against the ice, his head missing the ice by just a few inches and with Lance pulled right on top of him looking just as panicked as Keith believed he did. They looked at each other for a moment in complete disbelief at what just transpired before breaking into a fit of laughter. It was enough to take Keith’s mind off of the fact that he could no longer feel his ass.

“And then you—and _then_ I—but I couldn’t so we both _fell_ ,” Lance said in between bouts of laughter.

Deep down, Keith felt like he was being exposed to a different side of Lance. Sure, they didn’t argue and want to kill each other _all_ the time, but it was still rare to see Lance so _happy._ By default he usually carried a very cheerful, confident persona, but, in some way that made Keith feel odd in his chest, he felt that this was genuine. Their eyes locked for a moment and their laughter slowly died down. Keith always thought Lance was attractive, but he would never admit it aloud—he didn’t need his ego inflated anymore. But, from up close Lance looked _beautiful_. His skin was practically flawless and the way his hair fell in his face was enough for Keith’s heart to skip a beat. Keith was reminded that Lance could see him up close in all his acne scars and chapped-lips goodness. He felt his face heat up exponentially and Keith knew that he was probably tomato-red at this point. Lance’s eyes widened as he realized their situation.

“Oh—uh,” Lance scrambled to get up and Keith hated to admit it, but he missed his warmth. 

“Fuck,” Keith groaned as he followed suit. His back didn’t like the idea of being pressed against the ice for too long.

“Language, Keith.”

“Shit, sorry—I mean, sorry.” Keith looked around to see if any children or parents heard him and was relieved to see he was in the clear.

“Are you okay?” Lance asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” His heartbeat had returned to normal, though he felt like he could sleep for a few years. He looked at Lance to find him staring at some kid who was sitting down on a bench with an almost comical expression. Keith was about to comment when Lance looked at him with his eyes widened in excitement.

“They have snow cones here!”

Keith tilted his head and furrowed his brows. “Snow…cones?”

Lance’s jaw dropped and his eyes somehow managed to widen even more. “You don’t know what those are?”

Keith shook his head, clearly at a loss. Lance grabbed onto his wrist and began to lead him towards the exit. “You _have_ to try one, dude. They’re like the best things ever invented. You have never truly lived until you’ve had a snow cone. Your life will be _changed_.”

He felt a smile touch his lips at Lance’s words. He would usually be a little annoyed by Lance’s use of hyperbole to express any positive opinion, but for today it was cute. _Only for today._

 

 

The pair had gotten back into their normal shoes. Keith allowed Lance to latch back onto his wrist and lead him around in search for the snow cone stand. Keith had lost sight of their friends a while back before he fell for the second time, but as they walked around the remainder of the festival he saw them eating food at a picnic table. They hadn’t seemed to have noticed them walking past in the throng of people.

“Aha!” Lance said when he spotted a small ice cream trunk. He approached the small window and checked the menu before turning around to face Keith. “Cherry or blueberry?”

“Uh…blueberry?” Keith answered with a shrug.

Lance smirked. “I’m more of a cherry guy myself.”

He walked up to the small window and ordered. Keith offered to pay him back, but Lance refused insisting that he was merely doing his job to spread the love of snow cones. It didn’t take long before he had two paper cones in his hands topped with colored shaved pieces of ice. Lance handed the blue one to Keith.

“Isn’t eating ice in winter kind of odd?” Keith asked as he looked at the cone in his hand. He wasn’t sure how he was going to start eating it without getting his mouth stained blue.

Lance shrugged. “Why drink hot coffee or tea in the summer?” Keith wouldn’t admit it, but he had a point. They eventually found an unoccupied bench and sat beside each other. Keith ate some of the snow cone and was mild surprised by how much he liked it. He hummed after his first bite.

“Like it?”

Keith nodded.

“Not ideal for cold weather, I know, but it’s nothing a warm cup of coffee can’t fix,” he said before going back to his snow cone.

“I don’t really like coffee,” Keith admitted. Lance froze and Keith shrugged. “It’s okay, but I only really drink it for all-nighters or crappy mornings.”

“How are you so good at making it then?” Keith could see Lance’s face visibly redden. “I mean—for someone who doesn’t like coffee—I—”

“What’s this Lance? A compliment? Where’s the real Lance?” Keith smirked as he raised an eyebrow. It was fun to see Lance a sputtering, embarrassed mess.

“Ugh, you make me regret having a mouth.” Lance rolled his eyes and Keith laughed.

“I don’t have to like something to be good at it.”

“You’re probably not drinking it right.”

Now it was Keith’s turn to roll his eyes. “Everyone always says that.”

Lance’s expression grew serious as if Keith was committing blasphemy. “But it’s coffee! There are so many types and different ways to drink it—how could you just diss them all!” He used his hands so much when he talked that Keith was afraid that his snow cone would go flying.

“It’s not like I hate it or anything—it’s just I prefer other stuff a lot more.”

Lance sighed. “Don’t worry, we’ll work on it. Anyone who’s friends with me will learn to love coffee. Trust me.”

Keith cocked up an eyebrow. “Did you just call us friends?”

Lance feigned ignorance. “Did I?”

They talked some more as they finished their snow cones. Keith tried to ignore the feeling that was growing in his chest and slowly spreading to his stomach. When they rejoined their friends they didn’t tell them about the second falling incident—there was no way Pidge would let them live it down. Keith felt almost reluctant when they all parted ways and he had to return to his empty, dingy apartment.

When he checked his phone he had two messages waiting for him—both from Lance.

One for Keith and one for _K._

Keith felt his chest tighten. _Why didn’t he tell him?_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you at the next chapter! Thanks for reading and ty to miss_lestrudel for proofreading!
> 
>  
> 
> Tumblr: jirkland.tumblr.com


	3. Espresso

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: yeah I wanna publish at least 10 chaps before college starts up again  
> Me: *goes on a three-month hiatus*
> 
> What I'm trying to say is sorry for the wait, I lost inspiration bc I started to hate the voltron fandom (plus I'm a perfectionist and always think something is wrong with my writing). But season 3 and me taking a step back from the fandom has helped a lot. Hopefully, this means more frequent updates.

Lance spent the night tossing and turning. He had already said goodnight to both Keith and  _K_ , but he only ended up bored with no one to talk to. It was one of his first times talking to Keith for an extended amount of time. When they did it was usually about meeting up for a movie night (because Keith could never get any of Lance’s movie references and that frustrated him to no end enough to drag him through franchise after franchise) or when one of them  _really_ needed something. Keith never seemed like much of a talker, but, to Lance’s surprise, he talked  _a lot._

 

**Lance:**  R u feeling sore yet???? I am

**Keith:**  With no context that sounds dirty…

**Lance:**  Ugh gross Keith

**Keith:**  You never text me…what’s up?

**Lance:**  I just wanted to see if u were okay, I kind of fell on top of u

**Keith:**  I’ve had worse things on top of me, don’t worry about it.

**Lance:**  ………tf Keith

**Keith:**  What? It’s true. Don’t be so dirty minded.

**Lance:**  May I remind u of the text u just sent me

**Lance:**  U r terrible u know that

**Keith:**  But you’re worse…

**Lance:**  ANYWAY, when do u work tomorrow?

**Keith:**  Afternoon. I have work at the studio first.

**Keith:** …..nevermind, I’m opening for Allura, then heading to the studio then working in the afternoon.

**Lance:**  Studio???

**Lance:**  Also rip dude. Maybe I’ll stop by before heading to my internship

**Keith:**  Yeah, you know, where I do my photo shoots…

**Keith:**  Don’t you have better use of your time?

**Lance:**  Oh I didn’t know u had one

**Lance:**  And maybe my beautiful visage will inspire u ;)

**Keith:**  You can’t see this, but I’m rolling my eyes

**Keith:**  Also you’re unironic use of “u” and “r” to replace “you” and “are” is appalling and needs to end.

**Lance:**  Of course u r. U know my mom says they’ll get stuck like that

**Lance:**  aslo my use of u and r is fine ok stop judging me

**Keith:**  Oh my Lord Lance, shut up.

**Keith:**  LOL

**Lance:**  Lord Lance has a nice ring to it

**Keith:**  Don’t you have work to do tomorrow or something?

**Lance:**  Yeah, but I’m an intern. I’m basically the errand boy who is occasionally called upon for an opinion

**Keith:**  That sucks. It reminds me of my very brief internship for a photographer during my last year of university.

**Keith:**  I didn’t even get to take any pictures the entire time I was there what was the point?

**Keith:**  And all he did was make me get coffee for him ALL THE DAMN TIME.

**Lance:**  Rip dude

**Lance:**  Maybe that’s y u hate coffee

**Keith:**  I DON’T HATE COFFEE.

**Lance:**  Suuuuuuure dude

 

Their banter continued on until about two in the morning. He couldn’t wipe the stupid smile he had on his face whenever Keith texted back. He wasn’t sure what it was, but after their time on the ice together he felt a lot closer to Keith. Lance felt dumb thinking that just one day could do this to him, but it did and now he had to make up endless amounts of excuses for the way his heart would skip a beat when he saw a notification from Keith. Another thing Lance added to his list-of-things-he-would-never-admit-aloud: Keith was not a bad guy  _and_ attractive. Which was usually a recipe for trouble for someone like Lance, who falls so quickly and easily for people.

He had to be up at six to get ready for his internship and now that he couldn’t sleep, he was looking forward to a night of tossing and turning. He promised Keith he would visit him beforehand which would mean waking up even earlier.

 

Lance took a deep breath before entering the coffee shop.  _Nip it in the bud._  The small bell rang as he opened the door before him and he was greeted by the warmth of the coffee shop. The aroma of the exotic brews made him forget about every thought he had on the way there. His eyes were immediately on Keith who was busy serving a customer, so he stood in line patiently behind several other customers. The woman Keith was serving had a hand on her hip as she tapped her food. Her jaw was set and Lance could guess she was probably grinding her teeth. Keith, however, wore a calm expression as he made her drink and handed it to the woman.

“Finally,” she said as she snatched the drink from the counter and took off hugging her (probably fake) designer bag.

When Keith’s eyes met Lance’s he nodded and gave Lance a small uncertain smile before he took the next customer’s order, then the next and the next until it was finally Lance’s turn.

“Let me guess,” Keith started. “The  _usual._ ”

“Actually, no. Medium french vanilla iced coffee.” He would feel bad to give him such a complicated order after that morning rush. Luckily, Lance seemed to be his last customer for the time being so he could rest and maybe even chat—not that he was hoping for it or anything.

“Isn’t it a little cold for iced beverages?” Keith said as he took Lance’s money and handed him back his change.

“It’s never too cold for iced coffee.”

“Sure.”

“Anyway,” Lance started as Keith began to make his coffee. “I don’t want to go to my internship.”

Keith scoffed. “And the sky is blue. What’s new?”

Lance ignored his comment and continued. “My model  _and_ photographer have canceled on me for my presentation and it’s due in a month. I don’t even have a concept.”

“It’s an indie fashion and lifestyle magazine, how many concepts can there be?”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Of course  _you_  would say that. Either way, I’m screwed if I have a concept. Every fashion photographer in the city is booked for the next few months.”

Keith came back with his order, but Lance just let it sit on the counter between them.

“The photographer is probably the most central part of the whole thing—ya know? Like I see what they’ve done and I get inspired and then after the concept, I pick a model.” He continued on rambling until Keith cleared his throat.

“If you’re really pinched for time, I could help.”

Lance stopped his rambling and tilted his head slightly in confusion. “You’re a fashion photographer?”

Keith averted his gaze. “Well…not really, but I could try. I did a small runway show once. Granted, that was also in a pinch, but I didn’t too bad. I usually do wedding and family photos and get artistic when I’m out on the weekends.”

“That's not worrying _at all._ ”

Keith sighed. “Do you want my help or not?”

Lance thought about it. Keith’s inexperience can either be a creative masterpiece or a (highly) possible catastrophe. He had probably seen Keith’s work on his Instagram before he blocked him (he couldn’t remember why he blocked him in the first place), but it wouldn’t hurt to give it a second glance and decide. Then again, for some reason it felt weird having Keith help him. The current state of what was this weird friendship or solidarity between them confused Lance.

“I’ll stop by your studio and check out your work. I guess I’ll decide then.”

Keith nodded. “Sure, I’ll text you a good time.”

Lance checked his watch out of habit and swore. “I’m gonna be late.” He grabbed his coffee and a straw before he made his exit. “Bye mullet-head.”

He could have sworn he heard an “It’s Keith” on his way out.

Lance felt himself smile.

   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Chap 4 is already like halfway done, so expect it soon. Sorry this chap is so short, it's been sitting on my flash drive forever. I'm sorry it's a little (or a lot) ooc, I'm still trying to grow into these characters. Also I'll be checking back for mistakes when I wake up. It's like 5am where I am and I need to sleep lmao


	4. Cappuccino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow an update!!

Keith bolted awake at the sound of someone impatiently banging on his door while ringing the doorbell. He looked down at the scattered contents on his desk. The computer was still on with a photo he was retouching pulled up on Photoshop. The light on his phone was blinking with what were probably tons of unread messages and the americano he made himself before he left work was depleted beside him.

“Thanks for the help,” he mumbled at his drink before getting up from his desk and making his way to the door. His apartment was small and compact, so it wasn’t long before he was at the door with his hair matted in the front and sticking up in the back.

“Where were you?” It took Keith a second to register Lance’s voice. _Shit_ , he was supposed to meet Lance at the studio. Lance looked a mix of relieved and annoyed (mostly annoyed) as he looked at Keith for answers.

Lance was dressed in his usual style of a colored turtleneck (this time a deep blue that matched his eyes) and black jeans that hugged him in all the right places. He threw his coat at Keith who caught it. It was a lot heavier than it looked.

“Sorry, I fell asleep,” his voice was still a little hoarse from his nap. He took Lance’s coat and hung it on the rack as he stepped inside with a carton holding two of what seemed to be coffees. He scratched his neck as he noticed Lance was now standing in the middle of his apartment with his arms crossed and his eyes scanning his surroundings. He had put the coffee down on Keith’s sad excuse for a table—a wooden coffee table he bought for cheap at a yard sale outside of the city.

“Allura told me you were probably asleep at your apartment. You made me travel across the _entire_ city and back.” Lance complained—and rightly so. Keith had checked the time on the analog clock that rested on a small table against the wall and it was _way_ past the time he was supposed to meet Lance. The orange light of the sunset already flooded his apartment through the lone window.

“I must have thought I could get some work done in between the café and our meeting.” He took a seat on the couch while Lance stood. His eyes were still heavy and there was a gentle pounding in the back of his head. “Sorry,” he added.

“It’s okay, you look a little dead.”

“Wow, what a compliment—“

“Don’t mention it.” Lance waved towards the coffee he brought. “I stopped by a café on the way here, yours is on the left. Hope you like chocolate.”

“Uh, thanks.” Keith grabbed the coffee from the carton and took a sip. It was still warm—and, well, really good. It was like a blend of coffee, chocolate and coconut. He looked at the coffee and then to Lance. “What is this?”

“It’s a medium choco-coco coffee with no sugar, almond milk and a shot of expresso.” Lance counted the ingredients off on his fingers.

Keith nodded with his eyebrows raised. If this was Lance’s way of making him love coffee, he would be lying if he said he hated it.

“I have a portfolio here if you want to see it,” Keith said, but it sounded more like a question. As he was taking another sip of his drink, Lance nodded. He put down his drink and stood. “Uh, I guess, have a seat and make yourself comfortable or whatever a good host is supposed to say.”

“Ah, I was wondering why you were so awkward. You must not get many visitors.” Lance stressed the last part with an immature grin directed at Keith.

“Fuck off.” Keith rummaged through his bookshelf that was filled with his own photography along with some contacts and artwork books. He searched his brain for the time he photographed his more artistic portraits and few other fashion oriented shoots (for things such as online clothing stores). He was in the middle of an epiphany when Lance spoke from his seat on the couch.

“Are these your parents? You don’t talk about them much.” Keith winced at Lance’s question. He must have seen the barely pieced together photo Keith kept in a frame on the coffee table. He had forgot to turn it over before answering the door.

“That’s because they’re dead,” he answered with more bite than intended. Keith knew it was just an innocent question, but he always tried to keep his response smooth and mechanical, so he didn’t have to think about it. That way he could move onto the next task and keep his mind occupied.

“Oh, I shouldn’t have asked.” Lance’s tone was apologetic.

Keith shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

He came back to Lance with two books worth of photos (with only a few being relevant). He placed them on the coffee table before sitting next to Lance. Keith looked away as Lance silently looked through his works and occasionally stopped to drink coffee—especially when he was going through the pieces Keith had hung up in his studio or had sold. His more artistic pieces never really sold very well (usually he would just have clients come to his cramped studio for shoots), but they were gaining popularity online. It felt odd to see someone he knew other than Shiro looking at his work and even with Shiro it was weird.

He played with the hem of the shirt he was wearing—a thin red v neck he had changed into once he came home from work. His apartment was hot as hell no matter the season and he knew if he wore a sweater he would be sweating. He couldn’t fathom how Lance seemed so perfectly comfortable on his couch.

It was odd to see Lance looking serious. He searched Keith’s works with a furrowed brow and he wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. His lips were pursed and his eyes carefully studied each page before moving on to the next. Sometimes he would make unintelligible noises that would startle Keith, but other than that he didn’t say much. Keith took small sips of the coffee Lance had given him as he waited.

Finally, Lance put down the final book and he looked pained. Keith swallowed wondering what his next words were going to be. It’s not like he particularly _cared_ if Lance picked him for the job. Or at least that’s what he kept telling himself.

“So, when are you free?” Lance asked. He was wearing the same look he had when he had accidently complimented Keith’s coffee making skills (though less panicked).

Keith would be lying if he said he didn’t feel his chest expand abruptly at his words. “Uh, I mean any time I’m not at the coffee shop, just let me know when you’re ready, I guess?”

Lance nodded. “Okay,” he got up from his spot on the sofa and took a look around. “Where’s your bathroom?”

Keith pointed towards an egg-shell white door on the other side of the room. Lance excused himself and Keith picked up his phone to busy himself. He was surprised when his phone vibrated in his hands. It wasn’t for him, but for _K_ and Keith almost swore. Panic rose in his throat and it took everything in him to read the messages and respond.

**Lance:** _I have to walk home at night >.< Call me?_

**K:** _Sorry, can’t. Work._

**Lance:** _That was probably weird :\ Sorry._

**K:** _Oh no! You’re fine, don’t worry about it. Work sucks._

**Lance:** _Tell me about it._

It was so selfish of him, but Keith was glad for a moment. He didn’t realize how late it was and thus how dangerous it was Lance to go out on his own at night. While they were grown adults who could probably protect themselves better than most people thanks to Shiro and Allura passing on their knowledge from their self-defense classes and Keith because he has studied martial arts for some time, it was still a risk that could leave someone nervous or uncomfortable.

When Lance came back from the bathroom, Keith stuffed his phone in his pocket and tried to sit back on the couch to seem as nonchalant as possible. Lance raised an eyebrow at the scene. “Dude, if you’re trying to seem cool, you just can’t on a couch like that, okay?” He joked.

Keith narrowed his eyes. “What’s wrong with my couch? It’s a perfectly good couch.”

“Yeah, for a grandmother with five cats.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Fuck off.”

Lance went to go grab his coat before Keith got up and stopped him. “Um…” _This is it Keith,_ he told himself. _Tell him the truth and offer to give him a ride or walk back with him. It’ll possibly ruin everything and make things awkward for the entire group, but it’s the right thing to do. It’s what Shiro would want you to do._ “Do you want me to walk you home?” He stumbled out.

Lance blinked down at the coat in his hands and then at Keith. He put on a confident smirk. “I don’t need you to walk me home. It’s not that long of a walk. Besides, making you walk home alone would make me feel bad.”

“Why? I know how to defend myself. Plus, I hate driving in the city so I’m always making the trip from the coffee shop to my apartment.” Keith tried to keep his tone casual and not too insistent, but he was worried that it was leaking through.

Lance folded his arms over his chest and looked almost pensive for a moment. It was similar to the expression he wore when he was indecisive about his coffee order or when they hung out as a group and he wasn’t making conversation. “Fine,” he said after a long pause.

Keith tried to stop the relief he felt from his face. Though, his mind went from being worried about one thing to another. This was his chance to tell Lance the truth and for things to go back to normal for them. He would go back to giving into Lance’s petty arguments and avoiding him while he was at work. He wouldn’t think back to how he felt when Lance held his hands or how much he secretly enjoyed talking to him as both Keith _and_ K.

The two headed out shortly after. It was still around as cold as it was when they went ice skating, so Keith made it a point to wear his gloves.

“Do you think Allura would say yes to being my model?” Lance said as they reached the end of the block. They had been walking in relative silence until then as they were adjusting to the cold.

Keith felt a familiar pang in his chest. “As long as you’re not an ass about it, yeah,” he managed. He adjusted the scarf he wore around his neck as a small gust of wind passed through the air.

“I think I have an idea of what I want to do now.” Lance smiled proudly. Something about his expression read that it was a way of asking for permission to share. It’s not like he needed to, the question was already forming on Keith’s lips the moment Lance finished speaking.

“What is it?”

“I’m going to do a spread on coffee. Allura’s family owns one of the oldest coffee shops in the city. Have you seen her blog posts from her time in Italy? Korea? Norway? Her love for coffee and cafés is _iconic._ ” Lance spoke excitedly with his hands. “I got the idea from looking at your portfolio.” He stopped speaking abruptly as if he didn’t mean to say that last statement.

Keith raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Well, uh, I…I saw the set of candids you took at the coffee shop and those ones of Allura in a field and I was kind of inspired…I guess? I notice you pay attention to the details, but never lose your focus. _God_ , I can’t believe I’m admitting this to you of all people, but yeah, it’s pretty cool.” Lance stumbled over his words.

Keith tugged at his scarf to cover his now burning face. He let out a small laugh.

“Hey! Don’t laugh at me, mullet-head.” Lance playfully slapped Keith’s arm which made him laugh even more.

“I-I’m not, I’m not, I’m just, uh, flattered. Thanks.” Keith stuttered. He was staring ahead, but he could feel Lance’s gaze.

They fell into silence once more until Lance apparently couldn’t manage it and finally said something. “So,” he started. “When we were talking the night after ice skating you mentioned that you had never seen _Star Wars_?”

“Are you going to start berating me for not getting your references again?”

“Uh, no—actually, you see, a theater close to my house is having its monthly marathon of the films starting next week and I was _supposed_ to go with Pidge, but they’re busy with some college group assignment and, well, I was wondering if you wanted to go, ya know? Become cultured.” Lance laughed at his own joke.

Keith’s stomach flipped and he no longer desired to ruin _whatever_ this was with the truth. He could just imagine it in his head. _Yeah and by the way I’m K. I kind of stood you up and took the opportunity to swoop in and save you. Our newfound whatever-this-is was founded on lies. Oh, yeah, so when’s the movie?_

He must have worn a blank expression on his face because Lance waved his hand in front of Keith’s face as they walked.

“ _Hellooo_ , Earth to Keith.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’ll just have to double check my schedule with Allura.” Keith said as he tried to downplay the moral dilemma in his head. He would be lying to say he wasn’t excited. He also would be lying if he said he didn’t feel extremely guilty.

“Cool. It’s a date. I’ll text you the details.” Lance looked extremely pleased with himself and distracted enough to not see that Keith’s eyes widened at his words.

Keith just stared down at the sidewalk replaying Lance’s words in his head. It was just a figure of speech, right? His heart skipped a beat at his words and he could feel the way his chest clutched together for a brief moment so quickly that he couldn’t hear the rest of what Lance was saying.

“I’ve never really asked, but how did you meet Pidge and Hunk?” Keith decided that changing the subject would make him feel better.

“College. We all went to the same university in the city. Hunk was in one of my math classes that I had to take as a requirement, but we got to really know each other when we both worked at the university’s café. I loved coffee. He loved food. We just sorta…clicked. Pidge was in both Hunk and I’s required science class and helped us out a lot and our study sessions eventually became us just hanging out even after the class was over. We’re all pretty nerdy so we thought that getting an apartment together was the best idea ever, so we’re even closer now. Though, Pidge is the only one stuck on campus this year.”

“Explains why you were all so close when we met for the first time. I just assumed that it was your personality.”

Lance shook his head. “Nah, by the time we met formally I had known them for years.”

“Formally?” Keith furrowed his brows at the technicality.

Lance stopped in his tracks. The look on his face was incredulous. “Dude, we went to the same college. Don’t you remember?”

“Uh, no?” Keith narrowed his eyes and tried to think back to when he was in college, but it was hard with Lance looking at him like that. “College was kind of a blur to me.” It was true, he had spent most of his time sleeping, studying and trying to make sure he had a job afterwards. Keith shrugged. “I graduated like, what, almost 3 years ago? I barely remember my professors’ names.”

“Of course you don’t.” Lance scoffed. They fell back into step in silence. From time to time Lance would point out a dog or how he could see a star or two in the sky despite the bright city lights. They also made some small talk about the news and about Lance’s job. He already knew some of the stories and complaints from his time as _K_ talking to Lance, but he still listened as intently as before and interjected when he needed to.

Eventually, they had reached the door of Lance’s apartment building. Lance didn’t even seem to notice until Keith had stopped walking.

“So, this is it,” Keith said. He internally scoffed at how stupid he sounded. He shoved his gloved hands in his jean pockets.

“Yup!” Lance replied and stood in front of Keith awkwardly for a minute before seemingly coming to his senses and going up the stairs. “Thanks, Keith,” he had a soft smile on his face that Keith was not used to having directed towards him.

“No problem.”

“Text me when you get home?”

Keith nodded.

“You know, so I know you didn’t die,” he added.

Keith gave a small laugh. “I won’t. Goodnight, Lance.”

“Goodnight,” he said before he opened the door and disappeared.

Keith sighed. He had to tell him. If not, he was sure he would eventually get hurt.

* * *

Lance shut the door behind him and inhaled deeply. The warm air from the heater flooded his body, prompting him to take off his coat before getting onto the elevator. He held it in his arms as he pressed the button for his floor and waited while mindlessly tapping his foot as he listened to the soft _ding_ of the elevator as it traveled downward. The lobby was mostly empty except for the doorman who read a magazine behind his desk with his feet up and his glasses on. The cat he kept as company was curled up in a black ball on his desk. His body rose and fell as he snored softly.

Finally, the elevator doors slid open and Lance entered. His mind wandered endlessly from the brief moment he spent standing in front of Keith with a sudden urge to _not_ want to go into the building to the cringeworthy moment of when he got a little _too_ curious about the picture on Keith’s table.

He wasn’t sure how he felt except for _energized_. Inviting Keith to the movie marathon was a spur of the moment idea. He was going to ask Hunk or even Allura—but not Keith. It’s not that he regretted his decision in any way either, in fact, he was excited. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he jumped at the sound of the elevator door opening.

Once in his apartment, he was greeted by the smell of whatever Hunk had cooked and the sound of Pidge yelling at their computer screen.

“You can’t just can’t go ahead and do that! You’ll get killed without the healer!” Pidge furrowed their brows as they stared intently at the screen. Lance knew to leave them alone when they were really into a game. The last time that happened Pidge has managed to lock him out of his own laptop for a week until he thoroughly apologized.

Their apartment was small, but a perfect fit for the three of them. They were lucky enough to have the connections to find a two bedroom apartment in the city for a price that wouldn’t break the bank. Granted, it wasn’t cheap _at all_ and if it weren’t for the fact that Lance managed to score a paid internship and get support from his family they would have no way to pay for the apartment. Except for the fact that Pidge’s father was somewhat famous engineer who always sent Pidge enough money to survive for a few years whenever he visited.

“Sup, dudes, I’m home!” Lance said as he hung up his coat.

Hunk appeared from the doorway that lead to their room. “Hey, dude. You’re back late.”

 “Keith made me travel halfway across the city and it turns out he fell asleep while working.” Lance shrugged. “Either way I have an idea of what I’m doing now.”

“See? A bright side to everything.” Hunk smiled. “There’s leftovers in the fridge for you. I made roast beef and rice with a side of vegetables.”

Lance nodded his head and was suddenly aware of his roaring stomach. Hunk followed him to the kitchen as he pulled out his leftovers from the fridge and began to fix himself a plate to heat up. Hunk sat on a stool at the island.

“I never thought I’d see the day where you and Keith work together,” he finally said.

Lance didn’t look Hunk in the eye as he put his plate in the microwave and set the timer. “I was in a clutch and he was nice enough to help.”

“ _Nice.”_ Hunk repeated with a smile on his face. His eyebrow was raised.

“What?”

“Lance saying Keith is nice…I never thought I’d see the day,” he replied wistfully.

“Ugh, he’s not that bad, okay? Are you happy now?” Lance admitted as the microwave beeped behind him.

“What about _K_?” Pidge called out. Lance hadn’t known they had been paying attention to any part of he and Hunk’s conversation.

Lance shrugged. “To be honest, I thought maybe I should stop trying to be something more with _K_ , you know? Like our lifestyles just don’t match up.” It was true. He had been trying to meet up with _K_ since Valentine’s Day, but he had kept bailing on him. He was tired of dreaming of a person who wouldn’t even give him his real name. “But—it’s not like I like Keith or anything, jeez, guys, I just said he wasn’t a bad guy.”

“Mhmmm.” Hunk said and Pidge joined him from they were at at the computer.

Lance rolled his eyes as he took his dish over to the dark leather couch. “You guys are _ridiculous_.”

There was no way he could feel anything like that for Keith, right? He thought back to their strange moment at the door and their walk where Keith listened to him endlessly complain about his internship and life with a soft expression he wasn’t used to—especially from him.

Okay, he _definitely_ could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ty to miss_lestrudel for proofreading my mess! also ty for reading!!! comments and kudos are appreciated!!! if you want to yell @ me my tumblr is jirkland.tumblr.com


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